Two Taliban suicide bombers struck near a US base in Kabul early today, killing two Afghan guards in the heart of an area filled with foreign forces and embassies.

A village that held fast to the spirit of its seafaring traditions welcomed President Michael D Higgins yesterday to commemorate the crew of the Tit Bonhomme.

A BOMB blast ripped through a religious procession in eastern Pakistan yesterday, killing 13 people and wounding at least 20, police said.

A bomb blast ripped through a religious procession in eastern Pakistan today, killing 13 people and wounding at least 20, police said.

A bomb has killed at least 15 Shiite pilgrims near the southern Iraqi port city of Basra.

Three car bombs exploded today in Baghdad, killing at least 17 people, authorities said.

A roadside bomb has killed two Shiite pilgrims and wounded eight south of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.

A WAVE of bombings targeting Shi’ites in Iraq have killed 72 people, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded after the last American troops left the country in mid- December.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai cut short a European trip and returned to Kabul today to visit the scores of wounded and the bereaved families of those killed in an unprecedented sectarian assault on a Shiite shrine in the capital.

A suicide bomber has killed at least 20 people outside a shrine in Kabul during an unprecedented wave of violence against minority Shiites in Afghanistan.

Twenty-one people were killed and nearly 100 others injured today when five bombs struck Shiite pilgrims during an important religious ritual for the Muslim sect.

Hard-line Iranian students stormed the British Embassy in Tehran today, tearing down the Union flag and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the anger against Western powers after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Two car bombs tore through car parks packed with Shia pilgrims today in an Iraqi holy city, pushing the death toll from a week of attacks to more than 170.

A car bomb killed six pilgrims today in the latest deadly attack on Shias on their way to mark religious rituals in a holy Iraqi city, police and hospital officials said.

A FEMALE suicide bomber walking among Shi’ite pilgrims in Baghdad detonated an explosives belt yesterday, killing at least 54 people and wounding more than 122, officials said.

A woman suicide bomber killed at least 41 people in an attack on Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad today.

A suicide bomber struck an area full of government buildings in Pakistan’s main north-west city today, killing four people and underscoring that militant groups retain strength despite being under siege by the army.

A female suicide bomber killed at least 30 people and injured more than 50 others when she detonated an explosive vest among a group of pilgrims in Baghdad, Iraqi police said today.

A suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims today on a main road south of Baghdad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 20, police said.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiites beat their heads and chests and whipped themselves with chains today in Iraq as part of a holy day to honour the martyrdom of one of their most revered religious figures.

A suicide attacker blew himself up at a Shiite mosque in the Pakistan city of Peshawar today killing at least five people and wounding 20.

Attacks on Shiite pilgrims continued today in Iraq, with a roadside bomb killing at least seven people in southern Baghdad.

AT LEAST 118 Shi’ite pilgrims were slaughtered in attacks across Iraq yesterday, sparking fears of reprisals that could frustrate efforts by Iraqi and US forces to quell sectarian violence.

Shia worshippers in three Iraqi cities today suffered bombings and ambushes, killing at least 39 people, during the climax of ceremonies marking Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shia calendar.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah lashed out at US President George Bush today, telling throngs of Shias in Lebanon, marking their holiest day, that Bush was seeking to spark a civil war in the country.

At least 20 people were killed in Iraq today in violence against Shiite pilgrims marking the Ashoura holy day.

At least seven people were killed and another seven wounded when gunmen ambushed a Baghdad bus carrying Shiite pilgrims marking the Ashoura holy day in Iraq today.

US-backed Iraqi troops killed 250 insurgents allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival during a day-long battle near Najaf.

Mortar shells rained down today on a girls’ secondary school in a mostly Sunni area of western Baghdad, killing five pupils and wounding 20, witnesses and police said. At least seven other people died in a series of bombings and shootings across the capital.

A series of bombings struck predominantly Shiite areas in Baghdad today, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens, police said, as insurgents persist in their relentless bid to terrorise the capital in the final days before US and Iraqi soldiers plan to begin a massive crackdown.

A British soldier was killed when a roadside bomb hit an army patrol in southern Iraq today.

IRAQ marked the third anniversary of the US-led invasion with a fresh spate of killings, a deadlock over the new government and warnings of civil war as Shi’ites gathered in the south for a major religious ceremony.

Suspected insurgents marked the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq today with roadside bombings that killed at least eight policemen, and authorities reported finding 15 more bullet-riddled bodies, one of them a 13-year-old girl, dumped in the capital and in the Tigris River south of Baghdad.

Baghdad International Airport has been closed for two days for security reasons, the Iraqi Transportation Ministry said.

The Muslim pilgrims’ road to the holy city of Karbala became a highway of bullets and bombs for Shiites yesterday. Drive-by shootings and roadside and bus bombs killed or wounded 19 people, ratcheting up the sectarian tensions gripping Iraq.

Heliborne US and Iraqi troops pressed their sweep through a 100-square-mile section of central Iraq today in a bid to break up a centre of insurgent resistance, the US military said. No casualties were reported on either side.

On the day of the first session of Iraq’s new parliament today, and within days of the third anniversary of the US-led invasion, the country lie under the shadow of a feared civil war and politicians report a stalemate over the next government.

A car bomb exploded in a Shiite holy city and 13 members of one Shiite family were gunned down north-east of the capital today in a surge of attacks that killed at least 30 people despite heightened security aimed at curbing sectarian violence following the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine.

TENS of thousands of Iraqis marched and beat themselves yesterday in blood-soaked processions through this holy city and other Shi’ite centres around the country to mourn the seventh century death of their revered martyr, Imam Hussein.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis marched and beat themselves today in blood-soaked processions through the holy city of Karbala and other Shiite centres across the country to mourn the seventh-century death of their revered martyr, Imam Hussein.

Iraqi authorities have set up new checkpoints and warned innkeepers to watch for suspicious people – all part of security measures to protect Shiites marking the holiest day of their calendar this week.

Iraqi court officials today denied reports that two court employees attacked Saddam Hussein and punched him several times after he cursed two Shiite Islam saints.

A suicide car bomber blew himself up yesterday near an Islamic shrine, killing five Iraqis in the latest attack on Shiite Muslim pilgrims marking a major religious holiday.

A suicide bomber blew up a car south of Kirkuk today, killing two Iraqi Army soldiers and three bystanders.